Pico Driller is a free browser game on itch.io. The game was developed by two gentlemen, Johan Peitz, and Johan Vinet. This game has many firsts for this review blog. It’s the first free game I’m covering, the first browser game I’m covering, and the first fan game I’m covering. This game is a tribute to Namco’s Mr. Driller, which I’ve never played, so I’m not going to compare the two at all, but you don’t really need to play Mr. Driller to understand Pico Driller, so let’s just get started.
Pico Driller is a puzzle game where you drill down into big blocks, and try to get as far down as you can. You use the arrow keys to move, and “x” to drill in the direction you are facing. Sounds simple enough, but that is until you add in the metal blocks, and air canisters. Pico Driller, which is the character’s name in this game, will lose oxygen after a while, so you need to collect air canisters to get twenty percent more oxygen. There are metal blocks that take multiple drills to break, and when you do break it, you will lose twenty percent of oxygen. Pico Driller will die if he gets crushed by a falling block, or if he runs out of oxygen. The game is about making pathways to drill down, while collecting oxygen, not getting trapped in metal blocks, or getting crushed, which can be challenging, but it’s really fun. The game has two modes, Arcade, and Marathon. Arcade has three difficulties, which end at different feet, which is the scoring in the game. Marathon just goes on until you lose all your lives, which you will have three lives every game.
I don’t know how much of this game is using Namco's Mr. Driller, so I don’t know what's original, but the pixelated art style is amazing. The music in the game, though only one tune, is a great tune to have, but one of the biggest surprises to me was controller support. You can plug in a USB, or use a Bluetooth controller to play the game, which feels amazing. This game plays fine using the keyboard, but by using my Rock Candy Nintendo Switch Controller, I enjoyed it even more.
There would be nothing special about Pico-Driller if it was a paid game, but this game is free and can be played in a browser. The only major issue with Pico Driller is a few glitches, and the game crashing sometimes, but I can overlook most of that for a free game that was made by only two people. A lot of you will probably say why is this necessary if you can just emulate the Playstation original? Well, I, and many others don’t enjoy emulating games they don’t own, and some people just don’t even like emulation. Emulation is a shady grey area and can be considered piracy. I think you should only emulate a game you don’t own if it’s no longer being sold in the market, and Mr. Driller is still a name for Namco, with Mr. Driller Drill Land getting remastered on Steam, and the Nintendo Switch this year. The last time the Playstation original was ported was on the Playstation Classic as well, so it’s certainly not abandoned. For those who want to emulate the original, go ahead, but for those who want to try the series before buying an entry, Pico Driller is a good option.
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